December 1

In order to become a follower of Jesus Christ, we have to turn away from the path we are walking in and head off in a completely new direction. This act of turning around is called “repentance” in Scripture. Without repentance, we cannot experience salvation.

It is as if at some moment during this Christmas season, someone is standing behind us holding a beautifully wrapped gift. They are calling our name in an effort to get us to turn around so they can place it in our hands. They bought the gift and wrapped it and brought it to the party because they want us to have it. It cost them so much money we could never feel we deserve it, so much that it is hard to imagine it is really meant for us, but all we have to do for it to be ours is accept it…and the only way we can accept it is to turn away from what we were looking at and focus our attention on the one who is giving it.

Before we give our hearts to Jesus, every single one of us is like a traveler who has lost our way. We are doing wrong things and we are headed in the wrong direction. Through the death of His own Son, God purchases our forgiveness and comes up behind us, calling our name, trying to get our attention, ready at any moment to wipe our sins away and give us eternal life. All we have to do in order to receive His salvation is turn away from our sin and look to Him.

Because we have turned away from the direction we were walking in and have begun to follow Jesus, with every passing day our life changes more and more into what He is calling us to become. After He has given us our brand-new life, when we make mistakes and commit sins, we discover to our amazement that He is ready to forgive us all over again and to plead our cause before God in heaven. The only thing He requires is that our heart and our attention stay focused on Him.

The Apostle John put it this way in our reading for today,

“I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, ‘I know God,’ but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.”

In the rest of that passage, John talks about the love God puts in our hearts when we repent from our sins and trust Him for salvation. Loving others is one of the clearest signs that we have turned around and have begun to follow Him. During this holiday season, amidst all of the hustle and bustle, as we give and receive gifts with those who are closest to us, may the Lord help us to always remember the greatest gift of all, the new life Jesus brings when we open our hearts to Him. May the Lord help us all to love others the way He loves us…!

Pastor Mark